Hollister residents are concerned after hearing 12 of 41 firefighters in the city are getting laid off Friday.

"It's a source of concern for all of us," Mark Paxton said.

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"It's really a tragedy. We need those men standing by," Aimee Franklin said.

The 12 positions are part of a temporary, two-year grant from the FEMA SAFER program.

"All the firefighters were notified at the inception of the program that their positions were contingent upon receiving the grant funding from FEMA," Hollister City Manager Bill Avera said.

The city was awarded the $2.2 million grant in April 2014, which means it expired this April. Since then, the city has paid about $380,000 to keep these 12 firefighters on staff, but Avera said there isn't enough money in the general fund to continue to pay for the positions.

He said there is hope though: a one-time, two-year extension on the grant.

"If the city receives the grant award, we would put these firefighters back on notice and that we will retain their services and it will be for an additional 24 months," he said.

But until that extension is certain, the city, along with San Juan Bautista and various unincorporated parts of San Benito County, will see a 29 percent cut.

So what will the cuts do to response times in the city?

"Response times. It shouldn't have much of an effect on response times because we're still going to have our folks on duty," Avera said.

The FEMA awards are given out on Fridays. The city was told they would hear after the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1, which leads them to believe things may change by the end of the week.

The 12 firefighters will be put on reserve and be available in case of a major fire in the area.